If One Was Enough, What Is Two
by Lemonade -desu
Summary: In this world, our favorite APH characters are ranked by card position. . .  And lets just say that their personality matches their card. . . Or does their card decide their personality?  Fail summary, please read inside!  Spasibo!
1. Chapter 1

There are things you need to know before you read this story. And this will [partially] be using the Artestella artbook. Partially.

Explanation for Earthlings-

One, this is NOT Earth and the laws of gravity and all of that stuff don't apply. Second, the officials of this world [I'll give it a name later] are ranked by what value their card is ie. 8 of diamonds would be higher than a 7 of diamonds, but a 9 of hearts and a 9 of clubs would be of equal value. There is only one superior, the president, and he lives forever; he also chooses who gets what card. End.

**xXx**

Matthew was inducted a year earlier than Alfred, making the latter very jealous of his older brother. Even if he had been inducted as a lower number card [which one, Alfred cared not to remember] it was still a great honor. "Don't worry, Al, you'll get in too! Just wait a little bit!"

_Yah right. Matthew your such the optimist at times._ Arthur would've loved that, he was always the one to become Alfred's opponent and for him, just knowing Alfred's jealousies at his older brother would've made him double over, laughing. Those damn Brits. Well, at least Arthur got the _Queen_ of Spades, it really suited him.

His rage calming down, Alfred started to leaf through his mail. He pulled out the oddly-shaped manilla envelope from the stack and proceeded to rip it open, leaving shreds of manilla on the floor. A letter fell out with a little box, like the boxes you buy during Christmas to hold a gift card. He opened the plain box, and dropped it on the floor out of shock. Slowly, his mind registered that he should do something about this.

He cautiously approached the box and it's contents, his footsteps undetectable on the immaculate snow-white carpet.

_Stop being a coward. It's not gonna blow up._

Alfred bent over and grabbed the letter, and the two cards that had fallen out of the box. He peeked at the cards face value, not really wanting to see what was there. Instead, he only saw one of the values and was filled with such an immense fear of it that he began to tremble and shake. He had heard of this card when he was little, the "legends" about this scarred him at the young age of four and was always in the back of his head.

He had never imagined that he would get such a card. They said that who ever got it would go crazy within the week, if not earlier. And he was holding that card in his hands.

The Joker. And the other one, which he had yet to flip over.

"Alfred, your a smart boy so I expect that I will be pleased with how you turn out; you'll please Papa , right?" It wouldn't be pleasing him if he went crazy and killed himself. . . Would it? Alfred shook his head and a sudden way to fix all of this became apparent, clear as the crystal star in his room.

All he had to do was give himself amnesia. And he remembered how to do it. Just do _this_, and _this_, combine _that_ with _this_, and put it in _this_. . . .

It worked well enough, that the only things that he remembered when we woke up were his name, his face value [the cursed cards], and the letter he received. Well, also all that stuff that never leaves you, like math and science and how to ride a bike, but. . . . He brought the letter to his attention, unsealing it with the greatest of care and began to read it.

"_Dear Alfred,_

_ I am pleased to inform you that you have been chosen to join the Royal Counsel, as a Joker and as the King of Spades. I personally have taken an interest in your case, seeing as you not only have two cards, you have the Joker as one of them. I really hope you do not go insane, but seeing how smart you are that should be no problem. This letter is also to inform you that since you are the last member of this generation to be inducted, there will be a meeting of the Royal Counsel tomorrow at 10. I have also invited Matthew, even thought he is not a royal, but to congratulate you in being accepted._

_ The President."_

Alfred smiled, and feeling tired after such an event, headed back to his bed and began to snooze away. The next morning he woke at precisely 9:30 and changed into his nicest suit, eating breakfast beforehand so he wouldn't get anything on his clothes. It was oddly silent in the Jones' residence without the normal Alfred and his memories, and that silence made the new Alfred smile like a feral cat. It was definitely better this way.

It was a long drive in his red mustang down to the Counsel, and it was one filled with eerie silence. He arrived about five minutes before it was supposed to start and he dashed up the steps in record time, passing secretaries and book keepers.

There was a group of people crowding the entrance, with a Swiss man arguing at an Italian for something obscure, a Japanese man talking calmly with a German about something, and Hungarian lady fawning over a little Liechtenstein girl. It looked like a dysfunctional family. In front of them, a Frenchman was harassing a familiar looking Englishman while an unsuccessful Canadian tried to stop the Frenchman, and a Russian was trying to persuade a certain Chinese man to do something.

Yup. Dysfunctional family time.

All of a sudden, some attendants gasped and bowed, everyone else's gazed followed the noise, to a familiar looking man who strode in with some serious vigor. Everyone else, all of the royals bowed except for him, the need not becoming apparent. Said man strode towards him and smiled, on which he commented, "Never one to bow down to others, Alfred?"

"Why should I?"

The Canadian stood, shocked, with his mouth agape. The Englishman and the Frenchman where like this too. "Alfred! Mr. President, I'm sorry for my brother's behavior!"

Alfred turned to look at the Canadian. "Do I know you?"

"Y-Yes! I'm your brother, Matthew!" The Canadian yelled, his face red and his expression of shock deepened.

"I'm sorry, I just don't remember you. Or anyone else here."

The President chuckled and ruffled Alfred's, his, golden blond hair. "You're the smartest one aren't you! I would of never thought of that and I'm the President!"

"Sorry sir, but I don't think this git is very smart." Arthur was the first one to stand up straight, and to glare at the President [and Alfred, the glare was meant for Alfred and the compliment he recieved].

"But, Arthur, he's not book-smart he's street smart! I should know-"

All of a sudden, a group of men in black rush in, grabbing everyone and putting a gun to their head or a knife to their throat. Everyone that is, besides Alfred. Their ringleader grabs the President, and he's the one that looks the most serious. You can see fear coming off their captives in waves, well all of them except the President.

"You." He glares at Alfred while the others gulp, scared. "What are you going to do?"

All of a sudden, his brain is taken over by a foreign force, one that commands his every move. It guides him, it knows what to do these situations, and he smirks happily.

"Defend." He yanks out his Joker card and throws it into the air, and it falls back into his palm, face up. A strong gust of wind blows throughout the meeting room, obscuring everyone's vision. When they all look back to where Alfred was, there is a completely different Alfred there. A strong one, willing to fight to the death for what he believes just and, it completely scares everyone.

Clad in a black torn trench coat over a black and royal blue satin suit, his chains rattle against belts, as his "smile" deepens. If you were inside the others minds [even Arthur's] right now they'd think that they we're looking at a god, not Alfred.

Alfred raises his card, and the perpetrators tighten their grips on their captives as if they were afraid of this punk. He looks at the card, and brings it to his lips. He places a quick kiss on it and quickly pulls it away from himself, flicking it into the air once more. Halfway in the air, it starts to glimmer and shine, elongating and growing a deathly sharp blade. The shimmer disappears, showing the cards true form,or shall I say purpose, a long black scythe.

Alfred, himself and the Joker, snatched the scythe and turn towards the ringleader.

"_Get out_!" They roared, inhumanly. The building shook, walls rattled and the wind that was building up pushes against everyone, as the men in black disappear, shoved out of the room by force. The wind once again hides Alfred, but they hear this thunk, which sounds familiar. . .

"Alfred!" Matthew rushed through the wind and found his brother face down, his head parallel with the floor. He's relieved to find that Alfred's only unconscious, but confused about his brother's sudden costume change back to his previous clothes.

Arthur got up and turned towards the President. "You have got a lot of explaining to do, so start now." For once, the others including Matthew and Francis, agreed with him.

* * *

><p>Omake for this chapter-<p>

"Arthur! Francis! Can you help me carry him back to the infirmary?" Matthew looked exasperated after trying to carry Alfred all by himself.

"Oho-ho~ Sure, mon ami. . . If I get the middle section~"

"Perverted frog! Matthew, I'll help you, but only because this French frog is too perverted to do anything except dying."

"But Angleterre! You saw that body~"

"First of, why the bloody hell do you call me England? And, he was so not handsome!"

"You only say this because you think he is, right?"

Arthur uncomfortably blushed and looked away, the Frenchman proud for making Arthur realize another truth about his [minimal] love life.

"Guys! Are you going to help me or what?" The Canadian glared at them, his true anger coming out. It was enough to say that Arthur and Francis helped without any snide comments, and that they rushed away from Matthew as soon as they had laid Alfred down on his bed.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Just knowing people read my stories makes me REALLY happy! I am even more pleased when I get reviews but—Ow! "Stop being such a nuisance or I'll feed you my scones!" Ow-ow! Alright Arthur I'll stop now. . . .<p>

Thank you very much.


	2. Chapter 2

The President dashed down the stairs, a cup of coffee in his hand as he thought about how to explain the situation to everyone. It was a very difficult task to complete with Arthur glaring at him the way he was doing right now and with the suspicious glances at him every five seconds. But, what the President found the most unsettling was Matthew's expression as he brushed the hair off of Alfred's face, he was smiling contently.

"You're here. Explain. Now." The President's eyes met emerald green and only then did he realize how to explain it. The angry Brit was far from being content, angry at the President for saying that Alfred was smarter than he was, angry at the fact that he had to cover up for his lack of powers, and completely enraged at Francis. He looked back at the President and glared, a glare that sent a heavyweight champion boxer crying and begging for mercy. But the President just stood there, oblivious.

Finally, the President began to speak, sighing. "What you saw was unusual. Alfred's card, or should I say _that_ card, is the only one that can transform. This is because it is the only one that is always needed when I summon it."

"Why is it that his is always needed?" Arthur's permanent scowl deepened, along with his frown lines.

"Because he fights for you all. He's like a one man army. Make sense?" The others nodded and a moment of pure silence was observed until Matthew gasped and pulled his hand back from Alfred's unconscious, or no longer unconscious form.

Alfred had gone through another costume change, now he was wearing a black and royal blue satin suit that had a fur robe draped over it. His posture also changed, he sat straight up as if in a high -backed chair and his golden hair perfectly framed his face.

"S-Sebastian? Is. . . That you?" The President looked more than extremely baffled, to say the least.

"Yes it is, Calhoun. Your still called that I presume?" Everyone gasped when they heard his voice, it was smooth like velvet and was perfectly articulated like one would expect a king to speak.

"But- How?" The President's hazel eyes widened as he looked over Sebastian. He thought about how to explain _this_ to everyone, giving time for Sebastian to look around. He nodded as he looked at some of them, but went he saw Arthur and Kiku he bent his head and looked like he was shaking. Although, when he looked up it was apparent that he was trying his hardest not to laugh at them and the President's choice.

"C-Calhoun! You really chose them?" Sebastian couldn't stop laughing, his face flushed from trying to hide it.

"So what? Your not much better, you twat!" Arthur glared at Sebastian, a deadly glare.

"So feisty. . . Calhoun really? You want me to-" Sebastian smirked and licked his lips, a delicious sight for the few that were able to see it.

"Sebastian! I swear that your worse than Francis! . . . And, could I please speak to Alfred?"

"Oh alright." Alfred costume changed back into his previous clothes, and shook his head.

"Alfred. How did you do it?" The President looked so intrigued at what Alfred had to say that he forgot to be more specific, baffling Alfred.

"Do what? Oh, God. Don't tell me you met Sebastian. He's just. . ."

"We did. But how did you bring Sebastian out?"

"I dunno. Me and Darius" Alfred swore he heard Arthur say "Darius and I, you bumbling idiot." but he kept going, "Were taking about stuff and then this card falls from the sky and we're both like what? And I walk over to it and like Sebastian pops out and begins to do Sebastian like things. Really that's all I know."

"Who's Darius?"

"The Joker. Darius Viktor Ezra Artaxerxes. He never told you his name?"

"No. . . I guess he didn't . . ."

Alfred turned around and hugged Matthew, the latter being very shocked at his brother's actions. "A-Al?" "Mattie! I'm so sorry I forgot you it's just, well whatever. Thank you for carrying me down to the infirmary, bro." Matthew looked shocked at Alfred's statement, or even the fact that he had politely said thank you. This was the infamous Alfred F. Jones after all.

"Ow. I really think I'm gonna go insane with Bast's voice in my head. Oh god."

"What Al?" The Canadian looked genuinely worried for his brother, his violet eyes filled with compassion.

"You do not want to know what he just made me see. It's god-awful. Why? Sebastian are you my card and not Francis'?" Alfred clutched his head in his hands and sighed, his golden blond hair flaying all over the rims of his palms. "But, at least Francis has Phillip Louis. That's enough torture for one man."

"You know the others' cards? Please do tell!" The President became engulfed in the conversation once more, happily smiling.

"Alright. Well, y'all know I have Darius and Sebastian and that Francis has Phillip Louis. Ludwig, you have Nikolaus, Ivan you have Demetri, Lili you have Emma DeLay, Vash you have Gregory, Feliciano you have Benedict, Elizaveta you have Avalon, Matthew has Jack, Roderich you have Edward and. . . Where's Yao? Oh, and you two," He motioned towards Arthur and Kiku. "I'll tell you later. Trust me, it's for the best."

"What was this idiotic meeting for anyway? Why were we supposed to bring luggage?" Arthur glared hard at the President because he didn't like being left out by Alfred.

"Oh! You move into your houses today! Hearts and Diamonds you have the south side, while Clubs and Spades have the north side."

"Same orientation as last time?" A different Alfred asked, this one appeared to be part Darius, the black choker and the chains gave it away.

"Yes Darius. But please I beg of you, keep Sebastian_ under control._"

"I will do my best. But I can not completely restrain him at some times." Alfred switched out of "Darius mode" and leapt out of his bed, more energetic than usual. He dashed out of the infirmary, up the stairs to the first level and bounded out of the door, enjoying the nice day outside.

"Ah!" He exclaimed, "It's such a wonderful day outside! I wish that I didn't have to spend it unpacking!" His expression was so exuberant yet so serene that it shocked all of the others who followed him outside, Arthur's card heated up in his pocket as he forced down a blush. _Why_, Arthur thought, _did he have to be so ethereal?_ He looked like a golden swallowtail butterfly whose wings were shimmering in the radiant sun, or a majestic lion stretching out his back.

Alfred stopped for a second, looked up and shouted back to them, "Should I go first and get the ladder?" In front of him lay a giant green cliff covered in white rocks and granite like half columns sprawled out over what looked like an insane amount of land.

"Yes! Use Darius' help please!" Alfred nodded and backed up, running as fast as he could, and then he jumped up onto the highest protruding rock that he could reach. He swung his body around trees and up the side of the cliff like a gymnast, with perfect form.

"Wow! Alfred's really good at that!" The energetic Italian hopped up and down, already clinging to Ludwig's arm like they already were a married couple. Ludwig just sighed, used to Feliciano's eccentric ways, and he led the rest of the group towards the hill. Waiting on Alfred, he looked around and saw the usual things, Francis harassing Arthur and Matthew, Vash taking care of Lili, Elizaveta smiling and holding hands with Roderich, while Ivan and Kiku observed the surrounding scenery. _Personally_, he thought,_ it's weird how people can brush off weird events like they never happened._ It was like his brother, Gilbert, pretending that he did get selected not his brother just so that he wouldn't feel as bad.

Suddenly, his attention was drawn back to the cliff as he heard an "EH?" that echoed through the green valley that they had just passed through. Sure enough as he looked up he saw Alfred's blond hair peeking over the top of the cliff with a startled expression. "You- Us! What! When?"

"It's nothing to worry about, Alfred. Just bring down the ladder." The President calmly glanced around, already preparing for the explanation he'd have to give them. Metal glinted off the top of the cliff and it slid quickly down the rest, coming to a stop at Kiku's feet. "Come on up! You have to see this for yourself!" Feliciano wormed his way through the crowd, pulling Ludwig with him and literally dashing up the ladder in such a rush to see what the calamity was about. The Italian gasped as he reached the crest, impressed. "Ludwig! This is- amazing! Hurry up!"

Ludwig would of hurried up anyway, even if Feliciano hadn't asked him to, because there was a very impatient Russian, Ivan, glaring at his back. Almost inhumanly fast he scaled the ladder and his jaw dropped when he saw what was on top of the cliff. "Ludwig-san!" Kiku called out from on the ladder, being stuck behind the Russian he wanted to know what everyone was seeing. "What is it?"

"It's the Partnachklamm. It's beautiful!" The German was surprised at his own words, but the image in front of him was an intangible beauty. All of a sudden, Alfred jumped back from his perch near it, and whipped around towards the President who had just appeared over the crest of the cliff. "You can't trick the hero!" He exclaimed and looked back at the screen seeing it's true form which was a blank clear and transparent movie theater-like screen. The President gasped and looked back at the screen, seeing the creek from where he played as a kid and he was slowly drawn towards it. Alfred was really confused at everyone else's behavior and why they were drawn to the screen.

And then he remembered what he saw at first before Darius snapped him out of it. He ran up to the screen, but before he could do anything Ivan backhanded him and he fell into the green grass. He yelled at them not to get closer to it but it was like no one could hear him, like they were in their own world. _Alfred_, Darius prodded, _You need to break the screen to stop them from entering that other dimension. _

Alfred nodded and ran under Ivan, around Francis and Arthur and he sidestepped Kiku while still running. He pulled back his fist, and with all of his superhuman strength, punched the screen in the center. "Ow!" Little cracks began to appear in the epicenter and began to shatter the mirror as Alfred continued to push on it. Glass imbedded itself in his hand as his scarlet blood began run down it's shiny surface, beads falling down and staining the grass. The others started to shake their head as they saw the image in front of them and the sensations that went along with it start to fade. Finally, the screen broke under Alfred's hand and he fell, clutching his wounded hand.

"Damn you idiots! Ow! This hurts like hell!" Alfred stripped off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand, the white fabric slowly turning red. "What was. . . That?" Arthur asked, confused. "I don't know." Ludwig said, whether in response or not we'll never know. All of a sudden they seemed to notice Alfred and they looked shocked at his busted up hand. "Mattie, Gimme a hand up." Matthew helped his brother to his feet and asked the question everyone wanted to, "What happened to your hand, Al?" Alfred sigh and looked like he had been pierced with a javelin, and replied, "It was all your fault. What y'all saw was a representation of where you'd like to most go right now so that you would be drawn into this other dimension thing. I don't know, that's what Darius told me. Oh, and that he'll beat you into the ground if you guys are ever this stupid again."

He jumped ahead to the front of the crowd, and idiotically shouted, "Onward my soldiers!"

_This was going to be a long walk, wasn't it?_

* * *

><p><strong> Reviews feed my soul! Please think about it! <strong>

And please research the Partnachklamm cuz it's really that beautiful. . . Just so you get a better idea of this "screen"

Thank you very much.


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone was struggling to keep up with the American, even with all the pain his hand must be giving him. Even Ludwig was heavily breathing and he had army-level training.

"Alfred." Arthur's cold voice made shivers run up everyone's spines. Alfred turned around, smiling like there was no tomorrow. "What Artie?"

"My name's not Artie! And you git, slow down! Can't you see the rest of us are struggling to keep up?" Arthur looked away, waiting for Alfred to answer.

"Alright! I'll just meet you there! Oh and in about an hour it's gonna start to pour so you better hurry!" Alfred began to take off but was called back by the President when he asked an obvious question, "Directions?" Alfred laughed, a motion that shook his ribcage, and nodded.

"Red's. Up about 200 yards you turn left at the crossroad and follow along that route for about another 500 meters. You'll see a large rock, and tap three times on the left, twice on the right, and five times on the bottom and a door should pop out. That's the entrance for the elites. Inside the pathway cuts in two and the one to the right is Diamonds, the one to the left is Hearts. And Francis, you can't sneak into the other side cuz you need a Heart card to get in. The rest of us, well, first the Clubs. You go up with the Red's until they turn left, you turn right and walk down the hidden path behind the large dark elm tree. Keep walking until you see a large sycamore, when you get there input your cards into the scanner built into one of the branches. The sycamore is hollow inside so you'll go "down the shoot". Okay? Arthur, your with me!"

The President nodded and said, "I'll go with the Red's to make sure that they remember the combination, okay?" Honestly, he was worried about Francis' perverted tendencies and the fact that Lili was a Diamond. This was going to be a hard task.

"What do you mean _I'm with you_?" Arthur glared at Alfred, while Alfred obliviously said, "Cuz I mean like Yao is still in like China for like another year, so like I have to take you cuz like the Spades' mansion is completely in the opposite direction than all the others!" He turned around and mumbled with the others and waited until they began to head up that he turned around towards Arthur.

"What?" Arthur snapped at Alfred to let out some of his eternal anger.

"Dunno. Let's go!" He grabbed Arthur's hand and pulled him in the opposite direction that everyone else was going, back to where they came from. Arthur hurried up so he could keep up with the larger man and was really pissed off for having to do so. He watched as trees blurred by and birds whisked by them, the lush and forest-green forests looking like the ones from his home in England. He remembered cursing Francis many times in those woods and gathering herbs with his fae friends. Arthur didn't even notice that he had stopped until Alfred waved one of his hands in front of Arthur's face. "Yo! You there?"

"A-Ah." Arthur stuttered and blushed, shaking the memories out of his head. "Didn't you say it was going to rain soon? So that gives us-" All of a sudden, thunderclouds roared above them while lightening crackled in the air. Crystalline, perfect drops began to fall on them, slowly increasing in intensity until it was almost a torrential downpour. Alfred pulled both of them, their clothes dripping, underneath the largest tree he could find and bent over, so that his back was facing Arthur.

"Well? Get on!" Arthur was completely appalled at the idea of getting on Alfred's back and being carried around like that.

"No." Arthur flat out rejected the man and went with looking once more at the beautiful scene being played out before them. The clear rain echoing on the ancient cobble stones, it was like the sky was grieving and harmoniously composing it's own song of supreme sadness. Arthur's world became tilted as Alfred picked up the smaller man in his arms like a bride.

"L-Let go of me! Alfred!" Arthur tried to worm his way out of Alfred's grasp but the American's strong arms prevented even the littlest leeway. Luckily it was cold enough for Arthur to hide his blush, pretending that it was front the cold and not from the close proximity to Alfred. _W-Why is my heart racing? I've never felt this way towards him before!_ In the end, Arthur just gave up protesting and let Alfred carry him, or more like run with him.

"Hey Artie, whazzup? You're never this quiet." Alfred leaned down towards the Brit which made the latter blush even harder, his face lighting up like an LED. "My name's Arthur not Artie. . ." He mumbled quietly. "Oh. . . Your still you. Well then, it should be another ten minutes until we reach the castle."

As said, another ten minutes after that failed conversation they reached an impasse at a giant terracotta brick wall. Alfred, and Arthur in his arms, walked calmly up to the large brick wall and began to tap on certain bricks. After about twenty taps a portion of the brick wall was pushed backward that led into an inside passage way, and they both sighed in relief. Suddenly Arthur was placed on the ground and he spun around to look at Alfred as if he was worried. Which he wasn't. Instead he saw the taller man shrugging out of his soaking wet bomber jacket, and going as far as to take off his shirt. Which only made Arthur blush more. The damn American had a beautifully toned and tan chest that was the exact opposite of what he should have been thinking.

"Uh. . . Artie? I know I'm gorgeous, but you can stop staring at me now." Arthur reprimanded himself at what he had just been caught doing and promised to himself to only look at Alfred like that when he knew that Alfred couldn't see him. Alfred reached into his pocket and pulled out his red (and wet, that must be a damn strong thing to still keep working) cell phone and dialed Kiku's number. He picked up after the second ring.

"What is it Alfred-san?"

"Did y'all make it okay to your palace?"

"Yes we did. Currently Feliciano-san is sleeping in Ludwig-san's arms."

"Thank you Kiku!" He hung up. Slower than the last call, he dialed Francis.

"Alfred? What is it? Do you and mon ami need my services?"

"No thank you. Have you made it safely to your palace."

"If that was all, then yes." Francis hung up. Alfred dialed Elizaveta.

"Alfred! What do you need now?"

"Just wondering if you made it safely. . ."

"Oh we did! And I have to show Kiku some of my collection that I brought along!" Alfred hung up and just stood there for a second, leaving Arthur in awe. _He does that much for others?_ Arthur was so enraptured that he didn't even notice Alfred's shift of balance or the fact that he looked like he was about to faint. "Artie- sorry." Alfred fell against the wall, unconscious before he hit the plaster. Arthur was broken out of his trance to realize that Alfred had collapsed before him, the American's hands wrapped around Arthur's legs. "E-Eh?" Luckily it seemed that Alfred was actually only sleeping for he began to mutter Arthur's name in his sleep and his grip on the Brit's legs tightened. "Eh! Alfred. . . Please get off me!" He tried to kick Alfred's arms off but his strength was no comparison to Alfred's so he miserably (not) sank to the floor.

Before he knew it, he was asleep. Alfred woke up a good hour afterwards only to see that Arthur was wrapped in his arms, a gentle smile donning his face. Alfred picked him up carefully so not to wake him and began to head to their bedroom, a good walking distance away from where they were right now. The fabrics that decorated the walls and the floor began to become more illustrious as they entered the heart of the castle itself. As if he had lived here before (which he kinda had) he knew the exact way to the master bedroom where the king and queen slept. The room even gave of that air of grandiose worth and luxury, from satin sheets to velvet curtains and a mahogany desk in the corner that was barely visible in this hour of night.

It was really cold in there, so cold that Arthur unconsciously shivered in his sleep. Alfred took no haste in tucking the smaller man into the king sized bed and wrapping all of the covers around his little form, even bothering to wrap the now dry bomber jacket around him. After he was sure that Arthur was completely asleep he left the room and closed the large and overly decorated doors, settling to sleep on the couch in the next room.

He hit the couch and fell dead asleep the moment his face touched the covers, his glasses on the cherry side table next to him.

When Arthur lazily awoke to complete luxury, to put it mildly, he was extremely surprised. He looked around for Alfred's sleeping form, having to sit up to see everything in the room. Arthur felt something warm and fuzzy around his arms and torso, unlike the cold royal blue satin sheets that lay around him He looked down to see Alfred's bomber jacket wrapped around his mid-section and blushed at the kind act towards himself. He pulled it up to his face, the dark brown colored fabric rubbing against his face, and he breathed in. It smelled like the American, coffee and a little bit of cologne, with hints of hay and earth undertones. _What the bloody hell am I doing? This is Alfred's so I should just return it to him. . . But. . . I don't want to . . . _Arthur gulped in more of Alfred's scent before he reprimanded himself for doing such things.

Alfred, on the other hand, had slept through most of this awkward experience so he slowly began to get up and get on his glasses. At first that was a complete failure. He had forgotten that he had left them on the side table next to him and he tried to reach at were they would be in his apartment. He let out a little "Oof." as he landed on the mulberry fuzzy carpet, choosing to stretch out before doing anything else. Ironically Arthur decided it was time to come out and he saw Alfred on the floor, without his glasses and his shirt while Alfred was flexing his abs. And Arthur immediately turned away from the god that lay before him while he unsuccessfully tried to force down a blush.

_Damn it! Why does that git have to be so damn attractive? The way his eyes gleamed without __his glasses and those toned abs, he looked like he could beat Hercules! His golden skin and the way the sun just glorified it, his hair looked more like a halo framing his face, why-_

"Artie? That you? Could you like hand me my glasses?"

"Oh. . . um sure. Where are they?" Arthur tried to mask his shock at the god who was talking to him, grateful that Alfred didn't have his glasses on.

"On the side table near the couch I just fell off of, I think." Arthur glanced around for the little side table and when he found it he let a little smile show through. He picked up Alfred's glasses and was about to hand them to him when he nearly jumped through the ceiling, surprised at the noise.

_**"**__My heart's a stereo! It beats for you so listen close, hear my thoughts in every note. Make me your radio. Turn me up when you feel low, this melody was meant for-__**"**_

Alfred pulled out his little red cell phone and answered the infernal device, mouthing that he had to answer it. "Yes?" He paused and looked around and said, "Well. . . Have it done in another thirty minutes. The other houses should have theirs in more like an hour and make sure that the Diamonds and the Hearts do not meet." "Thank you." Arthur went up to Alfred holding the latter's glasses and gave them to the semi-upset man on the floor.

"God! If I remembered what our tasks were I woulda gotten up an hour earlier!" Alfred hung his head as if he was already tired, his golden hair darkening under the shadows of the couch. "Alfred?" "Hm?" "What do you mean, our tasks?" "Oh! So you don't know- I kinda forget to give an orientation to y'all. . . Er, the Spades' house manages the other houses as well as the police and stuff."

"Wait. You mean that I can make that Frog do whatever I want?" Arthur smirked, thinking of all the things he could do to make that thing's life miserable.

"Yah. But cha aren't suppose to, I might hafta warn him first. Shit."

"What? You forget some idiotic thing? Or did you just realize how stupid you are?" Arthru glared harder at Alfred, completely enraged at him.

"Hey! Why are you acting to me all mean now?"

"I completely woke up. I remembered how much I hate you."

"You can't hate the hero!"

"You're not the hero, come on, what person idolizes heroes?"

"What kind of person talks to freaking unicorns? What kind of person can't say thank you properly and loves to boss people around? You that's who!"

"Well at least I don't going around suggesting stupid ideas and then forcing them on others! Your worse than a dictator! Worse than Ivan! You never listen to anyone else!"

"Fine. If you hate me so much I'll leave you alone. Bye." Alfred grabbed a white dress shirt and some black pants and literally ran out the door, leaving Arthur alone. _What have I done? Why was I so mad at him? When I looked back at him I had this sense of nostalgia that mad me infuriated. . . What was that? _Arthur sunk to the floor, completely and utterly confused at his actions.

_When will Alfred come back?_

**PREVIEW**_:::_

Alfred ran out of the room, tugging on his new fine clothes and trying to stop the hurt within his heart. _I guess I'll go to Kiku's. . . He'll help me figure this out. _

He ran down a hallway that probably shouldn't possibly exist and through the modern, chrome-coated section of their palace and reached the tram in a short time. To try to vent out his anger he punched the chrome walls, but instead of helping him calm down it only left dents in the shiny surface. Alfred approached the tram ticket master and said, "Hearts please, number two." "Right away sir." Out of the corner of his eye he looked at the older man's features, the graying old hair and his wrinkled skin, the smile lines and the faded scars. He oddly looked familiar, but Alfred couldn't place it. _Alfred_. Sebastian whispered. _Watch out. We're not going where you think we are_.

The train master's head whipped around like an owl's, with his head turning completely backwards. "Quite the smart one are you, Sebastian?"

* * *

><p>Thank you very much. [Reviews are appreciated]<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Alfred ran out of the room, tugging on his new fine clothes and trying to stop the hurt within his heart. _I guess I'll go to Kiku's. . . He'll help me figure this out. _

He ran down a hallway that probably shouldn't possibly exist and through the modern, chrome-coated section of their palace and reached the tram in a short time. To try to vent out his anger he punched the chrome walls, but instead of helping him calm down it only left dents in the shiny surface. Alfred approached the tram ticket master and said, "Hearts please, number two." "Right away sir." Out of the corner of his eye he looked at the older man's features, the graying old hair and his wrinkled skin, the smile lines and the faded scars. He oddly looked familiar, but Alfred couldn't place it. _Alfred_. Sebastian whispered. _Watch out. We're not going where you think we are_.

The train master's head whipped around like an owl's, with his head turning completely backwards. "Quite the smart one are you, Sebastian?" His eyes glowed yellow and he jumped at Alfred, driving him into the corner of the tram. Alfred quickly turned into Darius mode, fighting this stranger was harder than anyone expected. The tram was descending into the inner layers of the Earth and the windows were the only thing protecting them from the outside dirt from suffocating them. It seemed for every hit he landed on this stranger, the stranger landed two on him making him bleed from his chest, arms, and legs. A particularly strong blow knocked him over, leaving a gash on his forehead and staining his hair scarlet.

"I'm sorry, Al. I just have no control." All of a sudden Alfred realized who this stranger was. It was his uncle. His, and not Matthew's.

Another strong blow glanced of his ribs, the amount of blood he had lost was staggering and it was making him lose focus. _U-ncle? Why are you doing this? _He wasn't sure if he asked this, or if he just thought it but it was one of the few things he remembered. _Darius? Why can't I win?_ "Alfred. I can't come out because you don't feel strong enough about this to let me come out. Only Sebastian is fighting right now." _Then I want you to come out!_ "It doesn't work that way. I can't come out only for your needs, it has to be for someone else's."

_Sebastian. I'm really sorry that I'm making you fight like this._ It was so surreal, seeing his body fall and feeling it at the same time, Sebastian's gift giving him this opportunity. Then he blacked out, Sebastian's power maxing out and both of them fell, crashing to the ground as if they were almost dead.

**xxx**

_I hope Alfred's not that mad at me_. Arthur's subconscious whispered as he walked down the hallway to the meeting that they were all supposed to go to. Unsurprisingly he arrived at the same time as Kiku and he struck up a small conversation about gardening, which quickly came to a stop when that despicable being entered the room. It went like any usual meeting they had before this and it ended the same way, Francis with numerous injuries, Arthur with a damaged spirit, and Ludwig with a headache. Calmly the President entered the room and sat down, waiting for one of them to realize that he was there and that he had something to say.

"Er-hem." The President's first idea apparently wasn't a big success because after all no one heard him. Well, maybe the ghosts. Or Alfred.

"Excuse me." As if there was no longer a sound barrier between the President and everyone else, the latter group turned around like startled deer in headlights.

"Eh? How long were you there?" Feliciano happily asked, bobbing up and down on the German's arm. "We didn't even-" Ludwig cut him off, whispering, "Shh. . . Feli please." Ludwig slowly persuaded Feliciano into being quiet while the President spoke up once more. "Have you done a roll take?" "Er- Not yet, President-san." Kiku responded, the only one who was used to awkward situations like these because of his brother who was currently in China. "Well? Do it!" The hurried Japanese man quickly snapped to it and grabbed a blank piece of paper and a black fountain pen.

"Hearts. Ludwig-san." "Here." "Feliciano-san." "Here." "Diamonds. Bonnefoy-san." "Here mon petite." "Zwingli-sans?" "Here! Here." "Clubs. Braginski-san?" "Kol-kol-kol." "Er—Héderváry-san? Edelstein-san?" "Here and here." "Spades. Kirkland-san." "Here." Arthur glared at the President, annoyed. "Alfred-san?" No one spoke up, while Kiku looked around the room. _Since when are you so close to Alfred, Kiku?_ "Not here. That's all."

"Alfred's not here? Well eh, who cares? Ludwig can you get that for me?" The President gestured to an old leather book on the top shelf of the mahogany bookshelf in the corner of the room. "Yes, sir." Ludwig detached Feliciano from himself and walked over to the bookshelf, and pulled the ladder towards him. Like a rabbit he dashed up the ladder and pulled the book down off it's shelf, almost dropping it when he felt how heavy it was. "What is this? It's so heavy!" Ludwig looked down towards the President. "I'll tell you in a second." Like a proper delivery man Ludwig gave the book to the President and bowed, turning towards his seat.

The President propped the book open on his legs and flipped the ancient thing open. Scanning the pages he finally came to the page he was looking for. "In the beginning. . ."

**xxx**

Alfred tried to turn his head, the only movable part of him. He managed to turn it a few centimeters before it stopped and he had to bite back a scream of pain. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the chains binding him to the wall and his uncle, who was reclining in a velvet chair. He could hear the turn of the page as his uncle read, the drop of water from the leaking fountain, and the rattling of his chains against the cold concrete below. Finally, he managed to gather enough strength to be able to stand and he did just that, shouting, "You! Why?" His uncle didn't even look up, his eyes glued to the dogeared copy of Poe's works while Alfred staggered with the weight of the chains and toppled over. Landing on his right arm, the abused and probably fractured right arm, he let out a shriek of pain and curled up in a ball like he wanted to protect his right side. Finally he heard his uncle shut the book he was reading and look over at Alfred's crumpled body.

"I didn't know you were this weak. Well, at least you detected that I let a demon possess me so that I could help train you."

". . . Train . . . Me?"

"Yes, Al. It's all for your good."

**xxx**

The President finished the story, or more like the history of the cards with a sigh. "And that's what happened." Everyone else stared with their eyes wide like it was Christmas all over again. Most of them were excited to be part of this legendary clan/cult thing, while others were overly suspicious about this. Acceptance would come in time, a really long time for a certain Briton.

"So we're supposed to believe that we were chosen to host these cards and that it was based on luck? So this is more of a faux government, no monarchy at all?"

"You're so British, Kirkland. A monarchy? Not at all. We're more like a Federation, if that makes sense." The President had on a smile that was warm and friendly, but it was nothing like Alfred's warm summer smile that melted away all of his troubles. Arthur mentally slapped himself for thinking such thoughts and turned his attention back to the other pleased members of the Royals. Ludwig quietly contemplated while he let Feliciano's words echo through his ears, Ivan was smirking with the thoughts of power and effectively scaring Yao with that grin. Lili and Vash were happy with anything, and Francis and Kiku were whispering about something under Japanese R rated magazines. It was a creepily normal sight, even with the news they had just received. Bored, he grabbed one of Shakespeare's works out of his book bag while he tried to forget about Alfred's mysterious disappearance. _But, really it's all my fault. I shouldn't of snapped at him like that. _ All of the previous ideas of reading where interrupted by his nervous conscience which ran like that damn American energizer bunny. Suddenly his brain diverged on into another discourse. _If you really love him, could you ever consider doing _that_ with him? Letting him love you in every sense of the word? Staying up late into the night and worshiping each others bodies? _ On the outside, he was visibly reddening until Feliciano would of sworn he looked like his brother's prized tomatoes.

Feliciano, the only one who noticed, jumped off of Ludwig and pounced on Arthur. That was what he had needed, something to break his concentration for even the smallest fraction of a second.

Quietly, he muttered a thank you to Feliciano and tried to erase his previous thoughts.

"Sir?" The President looked at him, and sighed. "What, Kirkland?" Arthur looked away and managed to say, in a clear voice, "I think Alfred's gone missing."

* * *

><p>LOL short chapter. And yes, I had some difficulty uploading it. Once again, thank you very much for reading.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Orz... Imma having typing block. Not writer's block, cuz I know what's gonna happen next but I can't put it into words. And I have all this mega-important stuff coming up that I have to prep for, academically and physically. So some deadlinees might be a little off, the chapters a little bit short. K, y'all? Once again, thank you very much for reading this.

_Exit Narrator._

* * *

><p>"You think he <em>what<em>?" The President snapped at Arthur, more anger in those hazel eyes than anyone had ever seen. Arthur, in a half pacified state reiterated, "I think he's gone missing." The President fumed and glared down at the Briton; he stood up from his old velvet chair, the flames crackling as if they were expressing his anger.

"Explain, Kirkland. The sooner the better." Calming down, the President slowly sank back down into his chair and sat as if he was going to hear a story that was most interesting.

"Well it began when we split up. . ." Arthur recounted all of the previous actions in perfect detail and in coming in on the close, sighed and sat down near the fireplace. Silence echoed throughout the large room and if you asked Kiku, the closest one to the window, he would swear that he could hear the trees swaying outside with the windows closed. Suddenly Francis burst into laughter and he doubled over and tried to catch his breath, almost shouting, "Really? You and your rendezvouses!" Feliciano burst out laughing and soon enough everyone was laughing with them. The mood had improved and everyone just let out a group sigh that contained all of their stress and all of the problems they had encountered so far. "Ludwig! I have an idea!" Ludwig looked down at the boisterious Italian and promptly asked, "What, Feli?" "Why don't we try our hardest, you know, like do as much as we can for the good of everyone, until Al gets back?" Arthur's eyebrows furrowed and he tried to remember when Alfred had gotten so close to Feliciano, but he only remembered brief encounters and interactions. Arthur was drawn back to the real world when Ludwig coughed and said, "Okay, Feliciano, but you had better keep your promises."

Arthur's emerald eyes locked with Ludwig's sky blue ones, and what Ludwig saw made him very nervous. "Alright then," He began, "You all are dismissed." Everyone began to head for the door and he whispered to Feliciano that he should go ahead to prepare the pasta. Feliciano dashed off and took Kiku with him, almost giving the Japanese man a heartattack. Ludwig saw Arthur heading out by himself and ran to catch up with him. Once he had followed Arthur out of the meeting room and past the others, he laid a hand on Arthur's shoulder and said, "Stop worrying, Arthur."

"I'm not worrying! I'm concerned that one of you guys took him!" Arthur snapped at him and he spun on his heel, trying to get as far away from Ludwig as possible. His words, however, were not so easily forgotten. Could one of us have taken him? Is one a spy?

The President smiled, not the nice kind that Feliciano puts on or the mega-watt grin that graces Alfred face. He was smirking from the shadows as he watched this encounter. _The seed of doubt has been laid. But really, I wonder who actually got Alfred? Because it was this early, I doubt it was the ht man I hired. . . What a waste of money._

**xxx**

Alfred grunted and tried to stand up, his uncle towering over him and shadowing him, making him appear smaller than he actually was. His uncle stepped back, exhaling, and leaning against the wall, out of breath. "You've certainly improved." Alfred smiled and looked up at his temporary father figure, muttering under his breath, "You still have me beat." His uncle offered his hand and looked down at Alfred. "You know, the fact that your almost on an equal level with me is a frightening concept to most. I was the most feared and respected man of my time!" They laughed, and Alfred thought about how this was nothing like that first day he was brought here. Well, it was the third day, but besides that, his uncle had returned back to his normal self. That is, as normal as you could get with a demon inside of you.

"That reminds me, Uncle, if you _didn't_ have that demon in you could you fight me?"

"Of course!" His uncle laughed again, the steely tone filling the small cave-like place. "You just couldn't use their powers!" As if a light clicked on in Alfred head his features lit up like a firework and he jumped up and exclaimed, "Oh, I got it!" Even though Alfred almost toppled over, his uncle stayed a safe distance away and he thought. Still thinking, he headed to his study and sat down in the rather old fur covered chair. He pulled out an aged-cream paper and his old feather quill; quickly opening up his ink.

_ Alfred. I wish I could speak these words aloud, but I'm afraid that's too risky. You see, the antagonist in this story, your story, is really close to you. If this letter falls into the wrong hands you could be locked up for life, so burn this letter once you get it. I've prepared you for the challenges not so far ahead, but the training you should do next will prepare you for the ultimate showdown. You next to train by letting Sebastian and Darius come out of your body, if that makes sense. And remember, I love you. Also, only you have the power to avenge your family's deaths because these two events are one and the same. I never told you this, but your mother had the Queen of Spades position while your father had the pair to it, so be careful. This event may almost try to repeat itself, alright?_

_ And, I think I actually became friends with Charles, this demon inside me. He's a little over gentlemanly, but he's rather funny._

_ Love, Uncle Aztece_

Alfred crumpled the letter and threw it into the fire, tears streaming down his cheeks. His parents had lived where he once lived, done what he was doing right now? No. He was also the Joker, and, as he began to forget more recently, he had to pretend that Matthew's parents were his own. Not even Matthew knew they weren't related and all of the pictures of his childhood had been, well, had been one giant photoshop task. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt, and he ran out of the cave and back down to the tram from hell. Oddly enough, the demon like metallic tram was in working order and Alfred jumped into the steel death trap and pictured his destination, the meeting room above.

The tram slowly began to grind against the rail, and Alfred stood against the window and shook side to side. His uncle's words began to creep back into Alfred's head and he began to lose his concentration, and instead began to think of his parents and how it must have been for them. Back when they were those positions, you know? What Alfred forgot is that this train can send one not only across space, but across time as well. So when he thought of the past, he went to the past.

The tram screeched to a halt and Alfred leapt off, landing in a rich field of green grass. Confused, he looked around and his jaw dropped. He saw an almost-clone of himself, except for his hair curl and his azure eyes, standing next to someone who looked eerily familiar. Suddenly, it all clicked together and he realized that these two people were his parents. He ran up to them and put on his mega-watt grin. "Hello y'all! I'm Alfred F. Jones!"

Let's just say that their jaws dropped too.

**xxx**

Ludwig woke up to Feliciano's persistent prodding, while Kiku sat outside drinking his homemade green tea and watching the clouds move and reshape themselves. "Ludwig! I want to go to the city to get some ripe tomatoes, but I don't remember how to tie my shoes!" Ludwig swore under his breath and looked at the eager Italian, sighing. "Why don't you take Kiku? I believe the city has some of his doujinshis." Kiku spun around and almost too enthusiastically said, "Really?" He coughed, embarrassed and continued saying, "If that's true, I'll go with you." "Why don't you come too then, Ludwig?" He looked away from Feliciano and crisply said, "I have some work to do. I'll go with you some other time, alright?" Feliciano's head bobbed up and down and he grabbed Kiku's arm and the odd pair left the room in an excited rush.

Ludwig sat down in his bed and tried pulling the covers over his face, but after about ten minutes, when he found he couldn't sleep he got out of bed. Walking into the oversized bathroom he turned on the tap and began to splash water on his face, trying to get rid of those traitorous emotions and thoughts that had planted themselves in his head. _Damn you, Arthur. Are you trying to turn me into some evil person? _

He dried his hands and threw the towel into the little laundry basket next to the door. Calmly he sat down on top of his bed and leaned back into the down and satin covers, his mind still poisoned with Arthur's words.

Meanwhile, the said evil man was brewing himself a cup of earl grey tea and trying not to break down. So many bad things had happened to him since Alfred had been inducted. First, Alfred always had to be the hero, so that left him in a debt to him that couldn't be paid if he went missing. Which he did. That was one of the other major facts of his horrid existence so far. Then he had made Ludwig angry with him which probably wasn't a good move, seeing that all of the houses where supposed to work together. And then, just then, Francis had to come and knock on his door.

"Angleterre! Open up, merci!" The Frenchman had always been calling him that since they first met, at the young age of five.

"Go away!" Arthur growled, in a very bad mood, and knew that if Francis got in that he would probably break his nose and his arms. Which wasn't good for relations between the two districts of the government. At all.

In a mood, Arthur grabbed some of the excess hot water and opened the door. Glaring, he looked down at Francis and said, "Leave, frog." Francis tried to worm his way past Arthur but that provoked the Brit even more. Without thinking about it he poured the water on Francis' head and he slammed the door, not wanting to hear Francis' scream of pain. He sank down into the sofa and hugged the blanket that Alfred used three nights ago, trying not to cry.

_You idiot! Why did you go missing?_

**xxx**

"Al-Alfred. . . F. Jones?" She, his mom, stepped back and looked him over. She looked back up at his dad and he looked, if possible, more shocked than she did to see his son standing in front of him. "Yup! That's my name!" Alfred cheerily nodded his head and grinned elatedly. "S-so. . . Your our son?" "Uh. . . yeah! I mean like you guys must be freakin' awesome- I mean, like cuz I'm like the hero- to have given me this personality!" His parents blushed and looked away, prompting him to ask another question. "Does anyone here go by the last name Kirkland, Honda, Bonnefoy, or Vargas?"

They shook their heads and looked at one another again, like a simultaneous motion. His mother turned her head first and asked the question that had been on the top of her tongue since they met.

"Alfred. . . Could you be our son?" She looked so nervous but so excited that when he whispered "Yes" she jumped on him and twirled him around with her super-strength. _Interesting! So that's where I got my super-strength from_. "H-Hey! Alicia, put him down!" Alfred's dad was another intriguing character too, a crazily patriotic American who loves sports and making music. A ripe question popped into Alfred's head as he realized his predicament. He looked behind himself and gasped at the state of the "steel death trap", his eyes widening until they looked like saucers.

"Mom. Dad. I love you and all, but how do I get home?"

They looked at the wreckage and gasped, a bad sign.

"Villanova." They both said and dashed off. "Hey! You guys wait for me!" Alfred ran after them, his footsteps crunching the dew-covered grass under his feet. _ This is gonna be one hell of an adventure. _

* * *

><p><em>Enter Narrator.<em>

I love you all dearly for reading this, and would love if you review this. {I hope to allude to further mystery} And once again, thank you very much.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day in the series of meetings went better than the first, after everyone came to realize their own tasks. Arthur, on the other hand, tried avoiding everyone and had found a comfortable place to settle down in the back corner of the library. The library was the huge castle of glass that stood next to the meeting hall and was joined with the passageways to get back to the castles. This huge area was nicknamed the "UN territory" even if the original UN had been destroyed over two centuries ago. Everyone knew the UN wouldn't last because it was just a copy of the original, the original was on the planet that was the twin of theirs. Earth. _Maybe that would be a good destination,_ Arthur thought and shook his head. Picking up another book from his stack he opened it and absorbed himself in it, trying to forget about all of the sad feelings and emotions that threatened to overtake him.

Back in the meeting everything appeared normal. But under the surface, everyone was worried sick and tired of the pent up excitement, especially Ludwig. His head was in his hands as he wished what Arthur said would go away so he could just relax and listen to Feliciano's complaints. But even Kiku seemed to get on his nerves, so he buried his head in his paperwork and settled down for a nap.  
><em>Am I the next target? <em>He thought as he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

**xxx**

"Mom! Dad!" Alfred's cries echoed within the castle walls as he tried to backtrack the route that his parents had run off in. _Villanova? What could that possibly mean?_ He sighed, completely and utterly confused as he leaned against the long pane glass windows that lined the Spades' mansion. The summer warmth spread through the room like a forgotten memory, that appeared only once in a very long while and brought a warm and tender feeling to the receiver. A large clank-noise made Alfred's head snap around as he saw a young woman about his age lose balance and topple over along with the huge stack of books she was carrying. "Ow. . ." He ran up to her and smiled, extending a hand and offering his name.

"Alfred F. Jones, at your service."

"Well, you git, could you stop smiling like an imbecile for one moment and help me up?"

Alfred was very taken aback by this comment, one that sounded so much like a certain Englishman, but he helped her up and stacked her books into two stacks. Her scowl deepened when she saw what he had done.

"I don't need your help. You would only be a nuisance to me."

"Well, I don't care if you want the help or not, but I'm curious."

"As to what? I'm a busy woman so I don't have time to be dawdling."

"Nothing really." He picked up a stack of her books and headed down the stairs that lined the old building, almost like he was running away. She grabbed her set of books and bounded down after him, clearly upset.

What she didn't know is that Alfred was picturing her and comparing that to Arthur. They had the same piercing emerald eyes, overly large caterpillar eyebrows and small stature. Their hair color was even the same. The only two things that were different (besides their sexes) was that she wore glasses and that little mole under her right eye. But, they literally were twins, same clothing choice and old fashioned hair style, same dialect and speaking pattern. It was really freaky.

"Hey! You bloody American, did you hear a word of what I just said?"

"Nope." He didn't even bother lying, that would make the situation worse than it already was. Before she could speak he asked, "If you had a child, would you name him Arthur?"

"Why of course! That's my favorite name. . . But wait, how did you know that?"

"Intuition I guess." He laughed it off and looked back at her, smiling. She blushed and looked away, on the second to last step of the staircase.

"Well, it might help if I knew where we were going to. . ."

She slapped him and laughed, the beautiful noise reverberating and filling up the whole room. _Huh, I wonder if Arthur's laugh is like that?_ Alfred hummed and looked back at her, waiting for a response. "Two things. I'll tell you two things if you answer one of my questions, alright?"

His response was quick and immediate, a loud and clear "yes". He wondered what would be so important that she would want to ask him and not look it up, but maybe it was something that couldn't be found in any library. . .

"Your not from here, are you? Or from, well, this present. Am I right?"

Alfred sighed and nodded, disappointed in himself for not thinking of such an obvious question, _the_ obvious question, that she would ask him. Her eyebrows furrowed but she smiled and looked at him once more. He almost swore that he heard her mutter, "I thought so. . ." as she looked back at the contradiction that stood before her. She huffed and said, "Well it's my turn now. The two things I'll tell you are my name and our destination. The latter should come first seeing as it's more important. Our destination is the third chamber of the Spades' mansion." Suddenly it all fit together and Alfred understood. She was the Jack of Spades. "And my name is Elizabeth. For the time being you do not need to know my last name."

"Ahhl-right!" Alfred drawled out and smiled with this new found knowledge of knowing where to go and knowing something that could help crack Arthur's hard exterior. His exterior was like the moat around the castle—But wait, why do I keep thinking about him? Obviously, his expression must've changed into something more serious because Elizabeth elbowed him in the gut and said, "If you keep thinking so much, we could get there by TK." Alfred looked down at the stack of books he was carrying and secretly smiled, seeing a familiar book on top of the stack. It read, _Treasury Of Classic Masterpieces: Edgar Allan Poe_. It was an off-green shade and it's pages had yellowed from age, but not as much as Alfred remembered when he first picked up the book at age nine. It was one of his most favorite possessions and he read through its huge pages more than enough times to memorize the text written there.

They had come to the hallway that Alfred had collapsed in way earlier and Elizabeth unlocked the door that was across the hall from the King's and the Queen's room and flicked on the lights, allowing Alfred to enter. Busily, she started tea and pulled out a stack of paperwork from under the large cherry wood desk in the corner of the room. This room was the complete opposite of the King's room, it was much more small and reserved but it still retained that degree of proper and richness that flowed throughout the whole mansion and leaked over to the UN territory. Well, leaked over to UN territory proper and stopped at the gate that lined the whole thing. Alfred, bored at this point, cracked open The Treasury and began to read even though he had memorized the texts many times before. Villa- Villa- What was it? Villa-son? Villa-villa? Villa-non? He sighed and stretched out on the sofa and yawned, his eyes flickering closed as he fell asleep.

**xxx**

"Ludwig! Ludwig! Big trouble~" The Italian shook the German awake as he grumbled once more about falling asleep on the meeting table for the second time and in the middle of a meeting. It was a horrible embarrassment to Ludwig's pride and it was just another bad thing that had happened to him since Arthur uttered those horrible words. Some of the other things included accidentally insulting Kiku, almost slapping Feliciano, and punching Francis. Oddly enough, the President seemed to have already disappeared and left all of them together; that unnerved everyone a little bit, a scary prospect to be that alone at the head of the governments.

It's just like before. My dad was never around and my secretaries never sugarcoated anything, even if it was a little hard on my little self. I did learn some valuable lessons.

"What's the trouble, Feli?"

"Bugs ate up the tomatoes! I can't make pasta without tomatoes!"

"Why don't you call up Romano, he has an indoor tomato garden."

"Thank you, Ludwig!"

After Feliciano had left, Ludwig turned to Kiku and sighed in annoyance. "Is something wrong, Ludwig-san?" Damn those Japanese and their immaculate perception of the atmosphere, why couldn't he talk to Alfred?

"Nothing. I'm alright Kiku." He made his words sharp so that Kiku would stop asking and go away. Kiku slowly shuffled away, his curiousity still peaked, but he was afraid of getting injured by Ludwig.

_Now I'm scaring them away. Damn you Arthur. _

Ludwig put his head in his hands and drifted into the world of nightmares, screaming throughout the whole journey.

* * *

><p>Sob. I really, really need my schedule to calm down! I promise another chapter, it should come out on Saturday this time but it will be LONGG! Like ten pages long!<p>

I love you all. And thanks to Becky for drawing me this picture [select, copy, paste]

.?fbid=244095295615666&set=a.171929299498933.38541.100000455922822&type=1&theater#!fbid=244095295615666&set=a.171929299498933.38541.100000455922822&type=1&theater&closeTheater=1

* * *

><p>Thank you very much.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Alfred woke to somebody jabbing him in the stomach, with something large and rectangular and a female voice muttering about "this twat sleeping until noon". His blue eyes opened to Elizabeth's face and he backed up and yawned, pulling up his hand to cover his face. He was way too warm and he stretched out when Elizabeth turned away and began to gather her materials. After his back, neck, and fingers had popped, he languidly turned towards the window and opened the curtains a little more to let some more light in. Elizabeth cringed at the natural light and said, "I wonder if your photosynthesize around people." He laughed, and on more serious tone added, "What's Villanova?"

She looked shocked. "How do you know that?"

"My par-friends were talking 'bout it 'fore they left in a hurry." Alfred pouted, displeased that Elizabeth didn't give him a straight answer.

"And who might these friends be?"

"None of your business." He could not have her find out about when he was from. That might totally compromise the future. And that would be just _great_.

"It is my business. You asked the question. Are you just going to forget it now?"

"Yeah. I said nothing. Ignore me." Elizabeth stared at Alfred and was mildly surprised that he had even the smallest serious side. It was probably why he and Arthur got into many arguments.

Bored, Alfred grabbed his bomber jacket which was slung over the sofa, and took off in search of his parents or even something amusing that would pass the time. And then he tripped over a little rock that opened a secret passageway.

Cool.

**XXX**

"Calhoun, your plan is working."

"Calhoun, phase three is complete."

"Calhoun, station two reporting in."

Honestly, he was very happy with all the reports, but he wished that he could get a moment of peace every once in a while. Sure, he was the one who assigned this whole task force to this one operation and sure, his life depended on making everyone forget. Well, his life, his people, and maybe his pride. No, scratch that. His pride mattered.

"Mr. President!" Someone's frantic knocks resounded against the wood as whoever it was tried to get in. "Come on! Let me in!" They sank against the door and began to sniffle, clearly upset. Huh, maybe this could work for my advantage. He opened the door to see a very frustrated Canadian, Matthew, with tears filling his violet eyes. Quietly, he asked, "Matthew, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" He brushed the tears out of his eyes and glared at Calhoun.

"My brothers gone missing and no one told me! I had to hear it second-hand from Francis! How could you overlook such a thing?"

"I told the Hearts' house to inform everyone. Clearly they did not do it. Come on, it's late." He ushered Matthew in and started tea, the rain outside chilling everything.

Calmly, Matthew asked for maple syrup in his tea (who the heck does that?) and he sat down on the furthest piece of furniture he could find, which was a leather chair that faced away from Calhoun. After he had gotten his tea he focused in on memorizing all of the furniture around him. He did _not_ want to talk to the President.

Calhoun sighed, knowing that if wanted to make Matthew putty in his hands it'd take a longer time than he'd originally planned.

**XXX**

Arthur awoke at around eight in the morning, his face buried in one of Poe's books. It had been two weeks since that git had disappeared and Arthur was left to run. . . The whole damn Spades' house. It was an absolutely agonizing task. Everyone mostly hated him already, Francis had even dared to laugh when Arthur had to tell him that the Spades' house commanded the Diamonds'. Well, they commanded everyone. After all, the order was that the Spades' were on top, followed by Diamonds' and then closely by Hearts' house, and lastly came the Clubs. Arthur was glad that the Clubs were the lowest because honestly, Ivan scared the living hell out of him.

Any of the issues he'd had to resolve were minor ones, but the paperwork was astounding. Over two hundred sheets on a good day. What kind of place was this?

And, there were no parties. Or any good rum, for that matter.

While time started to creep up on Arthur, loneliness began to appear by his side. Lucky the flying mint bunny was there to scare it away and it nuzzled him, trying to calm him. It worked too well because Arthur began to doze again.

**XXX**

Elizabeth ran, out of breath, and scared for Alfred. She heard the secret passageway open and she knew right then and there that if Alfred went in that he would not come back. She ran towards the secret—not so secret, passage entrance just in time to see it close. Immediately, she whipped out her thin but tough cell phone and called the King and Queen. This was just way too suspicious.

Even odder than this was the fact that she was forwarded to an automatic voice message service. Their phones were off. And they were never off, it was mandatory protocol to keep them on. One that was punishable by a lashing, and while that hurt like no tomorrow, they wouldn't be that stupid to invite punishment. _What the heck is going on?_

**XXX**

Alfred heard the door slam behind him and felt chills run up and down his spine. It was completely dark in there, it was so cold and creepy. Like a coffin, his mind supplied.

He lit a match to try to calm his nerves, but his nerves made him shake so much he dropped it. The whole room lit up like in one of Indy's movies, which scared Alfred half to death and he backed up into a wall. Which was when cob webs completely covered his whole back and arms. So not cool. Finally he regained his nerves and proceeded, using an old staff he found to test the steps. Most of the steps where fine but some crumbled under the staff and he had to jump over big gaps.

"Mama!" A shrill, young girls voice called out, "Where's my staff?"

"Mama? Where are you?" The little girl, or not so little girl as he realized, turned towards him.

"What did you do to mama? Why do you have my staff?" She shrieked and lunged at him, while he barely dodged her attacks. "Woah." In between blows he continued, "I don't- know. . . Your mother." God, she looked like she had the speed of Hermes and the strength of Hercules. "Yes you do! Everyone knows my mother!" He jumped a yard back and offered her staff back to her, trying not to look afraid."

"You are so afraid. I can feel it. Now, where is my mother?" Alfred snatched the staff back and used it like a sword, or just like a barricade, to block her blows. Slowly she was being cornered but neither of them knew it because they were spinning back and forth on the floor so rapidly. It was like a tango, but with deadly weapons and the will to live. Her strikes went in a pattern, one, two, one-two, pause, and repeat, so if he could hit her after she made that last double strike he could gain the advantage. He struck her, a little late, but strong enough so that she fell into the corner of the room grasping her ribs. "This is your tragedy. Not mine. I need you to die for me to live."

"Who are you?" Alfred said, pointing her staff at her like a gun.

"Your death." Alfred just glared, as much as he hated fighting it gave him such an adrenaline rush, and he felt invincible. "Who are you? I swear, at this rate it'll be your tragedy. So, tell me."

She seemed to finally realize that she'd better just tell him and not have one of her sisters record her tragedy. "Melpomene. Happy?"

He backed up, not enough to let her go but to separate them by another foot. He was shocked. The original Melpomene? God, what was he dealing with? Oh yeah. He was dealing with gods. Great, he snickered. "So. . . Mel. Where's your mother?"

"You idiot! That's what I'm asking! Or even Thalia and she follows me everywhere!"

Alfred's brain was working overtime to follow her and after a couple moments retorted, "What about Clio? You guys like-" He was cut off as she glared at him, more a death threat than a measly old glare. "Oh! I got it!" Alfred remembered the summer he spent in Greece. "Got what? Locations?"

"You angered somebody, probably Hades, because you couldn't come up with a good enough tragedy, is it?" She was shocked that he knew that and backed further into the corner. "Y-Yes." She whispered, hoping no god heard.

**XXX**

Matthew had finally left, taking one of Calhoun's more expensive umbrellas, _tsk_, and disappeared into the night. All he was able to do was put paranoia into him, but that was definitely enough for now. After restacking the papers and getting another report, he settled in on the sofa for a long night. And why wouldn't it be because he had the fate of his world on his hands.

The reason he had to make them forget was rather simple. If they remembered, his planet was doomed. The people from his planet were like if you took all of the scum of this planet and added bad and injust politics to it and that would be the least level of the offenders. But on his planet that wasn't wrong, it was like that one novel Calhoun thought modeled his society better. . . What was it? Oh yes, 1984. What a good novel. He must have seen our society because the governing system was flawless. But those damn noveau colony thought that they could make us better, "good" even? Well that was like that Earth period of "segregation" and the unjust treatment. On both sides. But there was a deeper reason for their mutual hate. One, they were from opposite sides of the "spectrum". His people were from the shadow god, while their people believed in the black and white god. That part was simple. Unlike the part where his people were tricked into killing a thousand of their people by the cunning fox god, and they retaliated by killing two thousand more, or the fact that the people they killed were The Three-Hundred. . . But yeah, it was complicated.

Really complicated. I mean, once he tried to explain it and the whole world was confused. It was a damn stupid and flawed aggression, but it was there none the less. God help us not to end in another Gotterdammerung.

**XXX**

The whole world sighed with Arthur. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep unsuccessfully, his brain not completely at rest. It would usually think of Alfred or something worse, like that paranoia that crept up on him and made him scared like a little child everytime. It would remind him of how his brothers tortured him when he was little, how he was excluded and had rather isolated school experience when he spiraled out of control and had shady friends, smoked and drank. All the time. That was an Arthur that he never liked to think of, the punk one that would kill for alcohol, the one that had first envied Alfred. It hated his popularity but more definitely that sense of purity that he retained, the one that Arthur lost a long time ago and tried to get back fruitlessly. Alfred never noticed punk Arthur's limp or his frequent trips to the shower to rid himself of them, or even his strong envy of the American. At times he just wanted to snatch a little of that purity. . . But no, that was _not_ him.

After his punk stage, well, after he began to live with Francis, he sobered up. Francis hated Arthur. Arthur hated Francis. Well, a drunken Arthur and a drunken Francis led to . . . About a thousand dollars worth of damages of a bar or of their own house. So Arthur made enough money to live on his own, moved out while he was in his sophomore year of college and began to room by himself. That was the onset of proper Arthur. Tea, scones, sweater vest, manners and all of that bollocks. It was something to occupy his time. And his fae friends. Who encouraged him to do needlework, garden, and to read. He loved reading, especially poems and sonnets, while curled up under a heap of neatly folded blankets and while he drank his tea. It drowned out the bloody rain for a moment and he would be able to sleep comfortably and in silence for a little time while he pretended to live in the stories themselves.

Or, if the rain was really horrid, he would curl up with an American novel or one of Poe's books and try to imagine living in Alfred's world of light. _Why did it always have to rain in England?_

* * *

><p>So. . . It's a far cry from 10 pages. . . And its one day late. . . But I worked uber hard on this damn plot! And Calhoun! He's like more complex than a rubber band ball! Well, I hope you forgive me and don't burn me over the fire—Please. I'm not good roasted. Or even slightly burnt.<p>

Thank you very much.


End file.
